Taras Shevchenko - A Reflection

Материал готовится, пожалуйста, возвращайтесь позднее

A Reflection

The river empties to the sea,But out it never flows; The Cossack lad his fortune seeks,But never fortune knows. The Cossack lad has left his home,He's left his kith and kind; The blue sea's waters splash and foam,Sad thoughts disturb his mind:

"Why, heedless, did you go away? For what did you forsake Your father old, your mother grey,Your sweetheart, to their fate? In foreign lands live foreign folks,Their ways are not your way:There will be none to share your woes Or pass the time of day."

Across the sea, the Cossack rests — The choppy sea's distraught. He thought with fortune to be blessed — Misfortune is his lot. In vee-formation, 'cross the waves The cranes are off for home. The Cossack weeps — his beaten paths With weeds are overgrown...

Taras Shevchenko St. Petersburg, 1838. Translated by John Weir Toronto